This home is in a northern suburb, built in the 1960s, inside the perimeter of Atlanta, Georgia. Nowadays, homes like this have become desirable due to their location, for those who work in the city, and because of their large and fairly level lots. For this reason, many homeowners look for ways to stay and make them more open and comfortable.

Thousands of these ranches were built during the sixties and seventies. Unfortunately, they were originally laid out with many small, cut-up rooms. Homeowners often complain of the nature of their design. This was no exception, with a load-bearing wall going right down its middle, thus leaving small twelve foot wide Living, Dining, Kitchen, and Den spaces.

With an interior designer, Teresa Hamilton of T.L. Hamilton Designs, Inc., we developed a plan to open this part of the house. We worked directly with the builder, Jimmy Mahfoud of Mahfoud Construction (http://mahfoudconstruction.com/), to install a new roof support beam and raise a ten foot high tray ceiling with built-in cove lighting. The higher tray ceiling gives a lighter, brighter, more open feel to the new space.

The Kitchen is completely new and open with a large island separating it from the Living Area. The Existing Fireplace was given a facelift with a coating of cement stucco and a Black Pearl Granite surround and hearth.

The Rear Entry area received Lockers for each member of the family and cabinets, all of which match those in the Kitchen. The rear area includes a beverage center. We left the Laundry Room where it was, behind the Carport but gave it a complete update.

The existing Hall Bath was widened and completely updated (see subsequent images). During construction, it was decided to widen the narrow, ranch-style Hallway, in front of the Bath, by about a foot-&-a-half, to improve circulation.

To save money in Phase One, we left the exterior of the house and the existing roof untouched.