This renovation of a mid-century ranch house in Framingham creates an open floor plan and strong exterior connections to better match the family’s lifestyle.  Opening up the living room, dining room, and kitchen to one another creates a generous gathering area within this modest scale house.

Custom built-in pieces are tailored to the family’s lifestyle and give a unique character to the multiple spaces.  The living room area is anchored by a full wall custom bookcase that also includes a media console, closed storage and file cabinets, and a window seat.  At the kitchen, the outer wall of the pantry is defined by a dark element of open shelving and a full-height magnetic wet-erase board for family artwork and school reminders.  In the family room, the large-scale sliding barn door is also a oversized whiteboard for big drawings.

The renovated layout gives the best of both worlds by taking advantage of the open floor plan while still providing for flexible uses and opportunities for retreat.  The new family room off of the living room, for example, can be fully opened up to the other main spaces when there are large gatherings or everyone wants to be together in the same “room”.  At other times, when the space is being used as a guest room or office, it is closed off with the oversized barn door.

You can read more about this project in its Boston Globe Magazine feature article.