Here’s how the creative team at Guhde Flooring America brought more to this home renovation
By Patricia Nugent
The creative design team at Guhde Flooring America is accustomed to thinking outside the box when it comes to crafting elegant solutions to complicated home renovations. In the case of this space-constrained home in downtown Willoughby, the only way to go was up.
“The homeowner wanted a more spacious master bedroom and bath, so the best means to accomplish that was to reimagine the third-floor attic space,” says Kitchen and Bath Design Center Manager Philip Rogers, who partnered with General Manager Mike Guhde, Jr. on the recently finished undertaking. “We walled off a master bath with a luxury shower and vanity. The size of the new master suite is 35 feet by 17 feet. We didn’t have to kick out the roof, so there are some interesting floor plan possibilities with shorter walls on one side of the suite.”
Expect More out of Your Home
Along with the trending and stylish choices in flooring, tile and cabinetry, the Guhde team was able to transform a three-bedroom, one-bath home into a four bedroom, 2-1/2-bath home.
“We added 580 square feet of living space to the existing 1,400-square-foot home, which will increase its value,” Phil says.
Every decision throughout the job weighed form vs. function and complemented the historic brick abode’s charm—upgrading yet retaining its appeal. Phil says, for instance, they changed over a window in the bathroom to glass block to create light with privacy and replaced two half-moon windows in the bedroom with insulated glass.
“Along with the master suite addition, we also renovated the basement, adding a laundry room, another bathroom, an exercise room, a storage area and a larger area for entertaining,” he says.
Finding functional ways for a home to fit its homeowner’s wants and needs is a trend they’ve been seeing a lot over the past year.
“I feel that with the pandemic forcing us all to spend more time in our homes, people are rethinking how functional and beautiful their environment can become,” he says. “Simply put, they are expecting more out of their homes. And the lines have blurred between workspace and living space, with more and more folks opting to work from home, so we’re also getting jobs for designing home offices with custom cabinetry.”
Whatever the job, with a proprietary CAD system, Phil can show homeowners all of the possibilities via a realistic-looking rendering.
“This particular renovation is one of the largest jobs I’ve worked on at Guhde Flooring America, with many moving parts that needed to be orchestrated to bring the homeowner’s vision to life,” says Phil.
Press the Start Button
Office Manager Monica Guhde-Rosa and Sales Manager Shawn Rosa report 2021 has been one of their busiest years to date, but they are managing it just fine.
“This summer we’ve been extremely busy while dealing with a sluggish supply chain of materials like cabinetry, which has been a challenge. But we’ve been able to keep to the timelines on jobs pretty well,” says Shawn. “If a homeowner were to press the start button now, we can have their remodeling done in time for winter to settle in and people to hibernate in their homes.”
Guhde Flooring America is located at 1880 Mentor Avenue in Painesville Township. Hours are Monday through Friday, 9 a.m.-5 p.m.; Saturday, 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Call 440-639-1990 or visit GuhdeFlooringAmerica.com.