This renovation of a mid-century ranch house in Framingham creates an open floor plan and and strong connections to exterior.  The open living room, dining room, and kitchen combine into a generous gathering area within this modest scale house.

Throughout the home, custom built-in casework tailored to the family’s lifestyle gives a unique character to the home.  The living room area is anchored by a full wall custom bookcase that includes a media console, closed storage cabinets, and a window seat.  At the kitchen, the dark accent wall of the pantry incorporates open shelving and a full-height magnetic wet-erase board for family artwork and school reminders.  In the family room, a large-scale sliding barn door also serves as a oversized whiteboard.

The renovated layout gives the best of both worlds by taking advantage of the open floor plan while still providing 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.