Wow! Eight weeks have come and gone and here we are at the end of our journey making several rooms into one big room! We are beyond thrilled, excited and proud to show you our final reveal.
But before we dive in, be sure to get caught up on all of the progress from the start.
Week 1 – Space Plan, Design Board and over all inspiration
Week 3 – Drywall, Paint and Design
Week 4 – Flooring, Cabinets, Appliances and our Dining Nook
Week 6 – Hardware, Furniture, Dining Nook and Art
Week 7 – Molding, molding and molding…oh and lighting, built-ins and stairs!
Also, if you’re finding us for the first time from the One Room Challenge, welcome! We’re Danielle and Michael Gutelli! And together, we’re Clark + Aldine.
Clark + Aldine is named after the Chicago streets where we first met, and was born out of a love for purposeful design and everyday functionality. What we didn’t know then was that our passion and design influence would continue to grow, and we would soon leave our established careers to pursue Clark + Aldine full time. But like they say, when you know, you know! Learn more about us.
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[emaillocker] [/emaillocker]This One Room Challenge has been an incredible experience for the two of us. We’ve been able to push ourselves to create a truly functional and purposeful space for our own family. It’s one thing to design and build functional and purposeful spaces for our clients in their homes, but doing it for ourselves is just so incredible, especially while managing simultaneous client projects and a global pandemic.
Without further ado let’s get into it! Here are some killer before and after images. All sources are listed at the end of this post!
Kitchen
Dining Room
Now let’s get into all the details. This project started as a kitchen remodel and quickly turned into a multiple room/most of our first floor remodel. Guess that’s what happens when you take down walls! Our number one goal for this project was to create a place for everyone to gather, be conversational and enjoy everyday moments together. Everything from electrical and plumbing to flooring and cabinetry is brand new, and everywhere you look there are details you didn’t see at first glance.
Kitchen
Our cabinets are from Lily Ann Cabinets, where we chose their White Shaker Elite for all perimeter cabinets and uppers. Four out of our six upper cabinets have glass fronts, which helped us create a completely open concept, and since our sofa faces directly into the kitchen we wanted to design a more open, less built-in feel to the entire back wall. The glass fronts allow the eyes to rest in many different spaces developing a well rounded back wall. By using glass fronts on more than half of our uppers we were able to style the cabinets functional yet still aesthetically pleasing. More on how we made that happen in a future blog post!
In all of our glass front uppers we added Philips Hue Light Strips inside and under to illuminate. The lights allow us to adjust the brightness and even change colors so the boys can have some fun with it around holiday times! We also have all of our lighting on smart switches. We chose to extend our collection of Lutron Caseta dimmers throughout the space, allowing us to control our lighting with voice via Siri and Apple’s HomeKit. We love that we’ve built a space that is so adaptable to our activities both inside and outside of the home.
For the layout we broke our kitchen into four spaces: the main cooking area, the countertop pantry and small appliance garage, island and the coffee bar. Each space it’s unique feature and function to make our lives easier and purposeful for our everyday lifestyle!
Main Cooking Area
Having extra countertop space was essential. Remember when we had just one 24 inch countertop to work off of! Yup, we do…and we do not miss it one bit!
Now we’ve got a 30 inch and 36 inch space on each side of our range to work with. We added a pot filler from Build.Com which we have been talking about for years! The Luxe Gold from Brizo works perfectly with our Schaub and Company Menlo Park Collection cabinet hardware in satin brass on the perimeter. In this space we used two different sizes of hardware to work with the cabinet sizes. On the 24 and 36 inch cabinets we used the 6 inch Menlo hardware, while on the 9 inch cabinet we used the 4 inch. Learn more about how we place hardware here and our full guide for hardware choices here!
Countertop Pantry + Small Appliance Garage
Can you believe this used to be our sink and now it houses our refrigerator!?!
We knew from the get go we wanted to include this refrigerator. The matte white finish with the brushed bronze handles perfectly complements our cabinets throughout the space. Knowing you would see the refrigerator as soon as you entered our home we wanted to make sure it didn’t stand out, and due to a window adjacent to it we had to go with a counter depth refrigerator. We sacrificed a little space for a way better look…win!
Next to the refrigerator lives our countertop pantry and small appliance garage. The six drawers on the bottom will house snacks for the boys and everyday items we need. We had to customize our upper cabinet by removing the bottom and delicately cutting out the lower portion of the face frame to allow for the quartz counters to be the base of the cabinet. Inside the cabinet will live our blender and toaster, along with other well organized and functional pantry items. We promise to give you a tour in there soon once our new storage solutions arrive (thank you, COVID!). This section of the kitchen has three different sizes of hardware: 4 inch, 6 inch and 8 inch.
In between the island and the perimeter cabinets we selected this Loloi Loren Collection Vintage Printed Persian Area Rug 2′-3″ x 3′-9″ Brick/Multi. The brick and multi colors creates the perfect vibe when paired with our incredible Anew gentling Anew Oak flooring from LIFECORE and the Sherwin Williams Greenblack window casing!
Kitchen Island
For our island we had Lily Ann Cabinets custom finish them in Sherwin Williams Tricorn Black. We wanted the high contrast between the two spaces, plus we brought in this killer slat design to tie in the living space with the kitchen space! Yes, we are working on two posts for you on our slat designs. We hear you and promise those are coming very soon!
You guys, can you believe this island used to be a wall and a closet!!!
The island is jam packed with storage. The entire front of the island features cabinets that push open and we paired these Tarckbyn counter stools for our seating. The dishwasher is housed to the right of this black quartz Elkay sink! And, yes that is a walnut cutting board that fits perfectly on top! Our faucet is a Brizo SmartTouch pulldown from Build.com, and we love the SmartTouch and how the two tone metals bring together the elements of our space. Next to the faucet is a little gold button that is for our garbage disposal…it’s the InSinkErator Air switch and you need the InSinkErator kit to make it work. This is a perfect example of ensuring our space has purpose and function! On the other side of the sink we have a drinking faucet water filtration system. This was an add on and we are both so grateful for the change order. Having the water system easily accessible for everyone helps with the daily intake, especially with our boys!
On the island we used completely different hardware from Schaub and Company – the Sorrento 5 1/16 inch and Finestrino 7 ½ inch. Our dear friends Adam and Lauren Weekley from Weekley Design saved us and built a custom 24 in door for our trash and recycling pull out on the end. Our island countertops are Hanstone Tranquility.
To marry the kitchen with our dining room we did a couple things. First we connected the cabinets with an upper cabinet above the doorway and continued our backsplash across the room. We used Splendours White Subway Tile and finished this off on both sides with the Bullnose Splendous Tile. We also continued the counters to create a coffee bar!!! Our perimeter countertops are Hanstone Storm.
Coffee Bar
Well this space is a dream come true. Let’s just take it all in.
We landed on the Breville Barista Touch for our espresso machine and could not be happier with this purchase! We’ve had the machine for a couple months now and have it perfectly dialed in. The built in grinder keeps things quick and clean, and the ability to wake up and quickly whip up an Americano or Latte is amazing. We have saved a TON of money so far by making our coffee at home, which was inevitable due to COVID but hey, let us celebrate anyway!
A quick shout out to our friend (and Michael’s college roommate) Brent Goodale, founder of Good Brothers Coffee for supplying us with some great blends for the reveal. We have been a part of his monthly subscription for well over a year now and it is honestly some of the absolute best we’ve ever had!
Dining Room/Breakfast Nook
We’ve been calling this space our breakfast nook but in reality it was our dining room. Remember she used to look like this!
Our vision was to create a build-out that looked as if it was a part of the original architecture! We used Tile Shop’s Firehouse Brick and painted it with Sherwin Williams Alabaster. We then created a built in floating bench. Don’t you worry we’ve got a full tutorial on how to create your own floating bench here! The statement chandelier is the Fibonacci 9 Globe from BluePrint Lighting in matte black!
Inside the nook we lined the walls with Tempaper’s Travertine. The black and gold waves are mesmerizing and look incredible when they are lit up from the Duo Wall Sconces from BluePrint Lighting.
If you look hard enough you should be able to see our custom wall mounted dog bowls! We wanted to make sure everyone felt at home here and that we are making this space as functional and purposeful as possible.
We knew we needed a new dining table. Our old rectangular table would no longer fit inside our open concept space. A round table was a must. When we found the ‘MIXT’ Warwick Round Dining Table we knew it was the perfect fit. The table fit the space correctly while the Acacia wood legs and a natural stone top added the texture we were looking for to the breakfast nook. We paired the Tracy Dining Chairs from Overstock. We love the mid century modern design with curved backed paired with the bold black seat pad. Jill Rosenwald created us a custom Slim Keith, Bail Toile in Samoa Taupe vase that we are absolutely obsessed with. And our friend Brandi from Lee Floral Design made our stunning bouquet. We also have a subscription to her bouquets that bring us joy every time they come in!
To bring the kitchen and dining room together we painted the window casing the same color, Sherwin Williams Greenblack. We also had custom shades made for us by another local friend, Lauren from Shade Simple. She made the process so simple as she always does with all of our client projects!
Butler’s Pantry
The doorway between the kitchen and dining room leads to what used to be our pantry.
When we decided to relocate the refrigerator and change the depth to a counter depth refrigerator we knew we would be losing valuable square footage inside the refrigerator. We found this EdgeStar Bottles and Cans Cooler with French Doors from Build.com and knew we needed to own it. We then made the plan to switch gears and take off our custom black door to have an open space.
We then added 2 floating shelves inside the pantry and styled them to be functional, aesthetically pleasing and purposeful. We placed things we use on a daily basis in glass containers and layered behind them the items we don’t use as often but need in the kitchen.
We switched out our old lighting fixture for the Easton from Hudson Valley. We love love love how it illuminates the hallway.
While we were in the hallway we knew the doors needed some hardware love. Both the bathroom door and the home gym door got a Round Brass Knob with Modern Rectangular Rosette, Flat Black.
The office doors have been without hardware since we installed….we know, we know but now we have this incredible beautiful Round Brass Knob with Modern Rectangular Rosette, Satin Brass Finish from Emtek! And since they are french doors we also have the 6″ Flush Bolt, French Antique Brass.
Living Space
Our living space was our Fall 2019 One Room Challenge. We added this killer fireplace with built-ins on both sides. From there we created this killer window casing with oak slats that has made our front window a true statement piece. When we took down the wall from our kitchen to our living room we lost an amazing modern shelving unit we had made last fall. We also quickly realized the existing furniture we had in our space was no longer going to work. While the room has always been a long and narrow living space, removing the wall and adding the island in its place now created an even narrower walkway.
Remember, our goal for this space was to create a functional and purposeful home our family could gather, hold conversations in and just enjoy everyday moments. So selecting the right furniture here was key! That is when Apt2b came to the rescue. Selecting a longer sofa for this long and narrow space that allowed for all four of us to curl up on and enjoy pizza movie night was what we needed. We also needed to make sure the sofa wasn’t too long that it wouldn’t fit correctly with the rug size this room allows for.
When we found Dylan Leather Sofa in Chestnut with Brass it was love at first sight. The modern details with the classic brown leather was exactly what we needed to pair our statement window design and new rug Loloi Theia Area Rug, 7′-10″ x 10′, Taupe/Brick. The Jackson: Pesto Giorgio Velvet pillow from SWD Studio is happy to live here.
Next up we needed additional seating to create a conversational space. The Ryder Accent Chair with antique wood plays perfectly with the Dylan Sofa, and we paired it with the Thibaut Daintree in Grey Pillow from SWD Studio.
We also knew our round coffee table was no longer going to work within the space. The Aiken Coffee Table has a cool modern feel made from Acacia wood and almost instantly brought out the warm tones in all the wood and furniture surrounding it to create a warm and inviting atmosphere.
Having two active dudes means we are always up to something. Game night has become a big thing around here and something we hope to continue as our kids grow. When we found these WovenByrd fun lightweight stackable stools we knew they needed to be added to our space. We typically house them below our hanging plants but when we are looking for extra seating they make their way into our space.
We wanted to optimize our space without making it feel overcrowded while creating as much seating as possible for us to entertain and use the home as we believe it deserves to be used! We have been on a hunt for a Mid Century Lounge Chair + Ottoman for timeless classic look and The Pasargad Home Florence Leather Lounge Chair in Black from Overstock fits perfectly into the space without taking up too much room and providing us with exactly what we’ve been hunting for! We added the Lindsay Lumbar in Mushroom Giorgio Linen from SWD Studio to unite the living space and breakfast nook. The mushroom color works well with the Tempaper Wallpaper!
The entire space is painted in Sherwin Williams Alabaster and most of our trim is painted with Accessible Beige by Sherwin Williams except for the kitchen and dining nook which we used Greenblack by Sherwin Williams.
All of our trim molding is brand new in the space too! We worked with Novo Building Products to pick the perfect elements for our space, all of which come from Empire Moulding and Millwork! First, we carried the Empire Modern Craftsman Baseboards in 5.5 and this absolutely incredible shoe molding throughout the entire first floor. The shoe itself has won us over, as we just aren’t that into shoe (shoes on the other hand, we both have slight obsessions with) but this right here has completely transformed our base molding and added another surprise element to the space. Our new window and door casing is from the same Craftsman Collection via Empire, as is our crown molding. We actually carried the crown into our kitchen and used it to finish the top of our upper cabinets…couldn’t have paired more perfectly!
Entryways
It’s wild to see how much natural light pours into this space now. Last year we replaced our exterior doors to allow for more natural light to flow into our home. However, the wall running the length of our upper and lower staircases trapped most of the natural light the doors brought in.
When we cut out both sides of the wall we immediately noticed the impact….hello natural light!
Front Entryway
Opening the wall between our front door, staircase and living room has been life changing. We built this custom mid-century modern shelving unit! Yes, there is a full tutorial on the blog if you want to recreate one too!
We also replaced our stairs leading up to the second floor. We went with a simple white oak stair tread from LJ Smith and paired with these incredible decorative risers from Ornamental Moulding and Millwork. We then added a new simple white oak handrail and fastened to the wall with these matte black wall rail brackets.
Side Entryway
Our side entryway comes in off the driveway. This might be our most used entryway since replacing the doors last summer. Prior to that you guys it didn’t open! Taking out the closet that came into the kitchen space and removing part of the wall here has been a complete show stopper!
One thing we weren’t sure about when we were designing the new space is what time of knee wall we were going to use. But then Beth at LJ Smith provided a recommendation on a custom knee wall solution that was sure to please. We fell in love with this matte black flush mount panel and built it out using a white oak newel post and white oak handrail. The finishing touch…this insane matte black newel post cap! Yes, we are obsessed!
One last detail here is a brand new light. We chose the Mitzi Avery Pendant Light in Aged Brass and Cream, which pulls in the the kitchen oh so perfectly.
This One Room Challenge has completely changed our lives forever. Not only were we given the opportunity to completely transform our own home for the last eight weeks and bring you all on our journey we now get to live in this space and enjoy all the purposeful and functional elements we have created.
We want to give a huge thank you to Linda Weinstein for asking us to be a Featured Designer in this spring 2020 One Room Challenge, and for being such an incredible leader and supporter to all of us as we experienced an abundance of very tough and stressful times.
To all our incredible sponsors, thank you from the bottom of our hearts. We would never be able to pull off a transformation like this with client projects and timelines without you! To all our readers, thank you for continuing to show up here, engage with us here and on social…we appreciate each and every one of you. We love what we do and hope this shows true in all of our work. To all our amazing clients, thank you, thank you, thank you for all your patience with us as we balanced complete chaos in our own home, worked on your homes and lived through a pandemic together.
Make sure to check out the other 19 amazing Featured Designers Final Reveals in the Spring 2020 One Room Challenge!
A Glass of Bovino | Beginning in the Middle | Beth Diana Smith | Clark + Aldine | Coco & Jack
Deeply Southern Home| Design Maze | Dwell by Cheryl | Erika Ward | Home Made by Carmona
House of Hipsters | Hunted Interior | Kandrac & Kole | Kate Pearce | Katrina Blair | Liz Kamarul
Veneer Designs | Rambling Renovators | Renovation Husbands | Studio Plumb | Media BH&G
You can follow us along on our journey over on Danielle’s Instagram page, Michael’s Instagram Page and the Clark + Aldine’s Instagram page. And stay tuned because tomorrow we are dropping a brand new podcast series inside our Stay True Podcast with all kinds of behind the scenes insight and interviews you aren’t going to want to miss. Subscribe today on Apple or Spotify and you’ll get the notification right to your phone!
Below are links to all sources in this space!
Paint
Walls – Sherwin Williams Alabaster
Trim – Accessible Beige by Sherwin Williams
Window Casing + Butlers Pantry – Greenblack by Sherwin Williams.
Kitchen
Cabinets – Lily Ann
Flooring – LIFECORE
Perimeter Countertop – Hanstone Storm
Brass Hardware – Schaub and Company Menlo Park Collection, 6 inch Menlo hardware, 4 inch and 8 inch.
Black Hardware – Schaub and Company – the Sorrento 5 1/16 inch and Finestrino 7 ½ inch
Range – Cafe
Pot Filler – Build.com
Refrigerator – Cafe
Dishwasher – Cafe
Runner – Loloi Loren
Cutting Boards – Hearth & Hand with Magnolia
Candle – Sugar + Grace
Tile – The Tile Shop
Sink – Elkay
Sink Cutting Board – Elkay
Faucet – Build.com
Air Press Bottom – Build.com – Brass Button + Switch
Drinking Faucet – Mountain Plumbing
Linear Chandelier – Amazon
Cabinet Lighting – Philips Hue Light Strips
Smart Switches – Build.com
Stepping Stool – Crate Kids
Stools – Overstock
Soap Dispenser – Crate + Barrel
Vases – Studio MeGee Target
Plates – Crate & Barrel
Glass Canister with Wooden Lid – Target, Large + Small
Wooden Bowls – Macys
Glass – Crate & Barrel
Coffee Bar
Espresso Machine – Breville Barista Touch
Coffee – Good Brother’s Coffee
Coffee Vacuum Canisters – Fellow
Electric Kettle – Fellow
Super Absorbent Towels – William Sonoma
Art – Minted
White Mugs – William Sonoma
Black Mugs – William Sonoma
French Press – Sur La Table
Chemex 6 Cup Coffeemaker with wood – Crate & Barrel
Tile – The Tile Shop
Dining Nook
Wallpaper – Tempaper
Chandelier – Blueprint Lighting
Sconces – Blueprint Lighting
Table – Overstock
Chairs – Overstock
Vase – Jill Rosenwald
Pillow – SWD Studio
Pillow – Woven Nook
Butlers Pantry
Beverage Cooler – Build.com
Combi Wave Microwave 3 in 1 – William Sonoma
Black wire basket – Container Store
Super Absorbent Towels – William Sonoma
Glass Flour Canister – Crate & Barrel
Silver Lid Canister – Bed Bath and Beyond
Black Lid Canister – Container Store
Light – Hudson Valley
Art – Minted
French Door Hardware – Emtek
Door Hardware – Emtek
Living Room
Sofa – Apt2b
Chair – Apt2b
Coffee Table – Apt2b
End Table – Pottery Barn
End Table – West Elm
Em Table – Target
Rug – Loloi
Mid Century Lounge Chair + Ottman – Overstock
Stackable Stools – WovenByrd
Toro – Apt2b
Planter – Apt2b
Vase – Apt2b
Vase – Apt2b
Sconces – Sazerac Stitches
Frame TV- Samsung
Pillows – SWD Studio, Thibaut Daintree in Grey Pillow, Lindsay Lumbar in Mushroom Giorgio Linen,
Planters – Overstock
Art – Minted
Gold Hanging Planter – Amazon
Black Hanging Planter – Amazon
Wood Wall Planter Hooks – Etsy
Entryway
Stairs – LJ Smith white oak stair tread and decorative risers from Ornamental Moulding and Millwork
Handrail – LJ Smith white oak handrail and matte black wall rail brackets
Knee Wall – matte black flush mount panel, white oak newel post, white oak handrail and matte black newel post cap
Front Door – Masonite
Side Door – Masonite
Front Door Light – Pottery Barn
Side Door Light – Mitzi
Hooks – Amazon
Rug – Studio McGee Target
Door Mat – Studio McGee Target
Planter – Apt2b
Planter – Overstock
Art – Schoolhouse
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