Page 47 - Green Builder Remodeling Field Report 2021

From Mood Board to Reality

The deft work of an architect–interior

design team is transforming this
dated kitchen and prep area into a
sophisticated entertainer’s dream.

It’s not that the kitchen in the existing house Tiana Cooper
bought was beastly. Someone had clearly put time, effort, and
expense into it a few decades previously (not to mention an
extra heaping of brown). But the longer Cooper lived in the
house, the more the heavy stonework, inconsistently perform-
ing appliances and chopped-up visual flow bugged her.
“I had been deciding between buying a new house or reno-
vating an existing one,” Tiana explains. “While it would have
been great to have a brand new kitchen right away, I picked this
older house because it had land for gardening (and) my dogs,
and so I can eventually have rescue horses.” She figured the
interior could be reimagined as a sustainable modern living
space with help from an architect and an interior designer.
Cooper joined forces with Green Builder Media to layer sus-
tainability into the remodeling mix, and the ReVISION House
Austin came to life. She enlisted the design expertise of Chris
Cernoch, principal of Studio C Architecture + Planning, and
2
Lori Michalek, principal of Michalek Designs, for a complete
interior redesign.
Following the client’s lead, the design duo placed a strong
emphasis on the kitchen renovation, particularly how the room
connects and flows with the rest of the house. In a unique co-
opting of space, the team transformed a spare bedroom into a
large super-functional pantry area. This allows the busy influ-
encer to showcase glamor in the kitchen and leave messes
behind closed doors.
Here, the design team walks us through the choices Cooper
BOCCHI sink made for the kitchen so far, and shares how she has taken the
job requirements and created a brand new floorplan. Follow the
ReVISION House Austin project to watch as the build takes
shape over the next few months.

The Kitchen Rules
“When we first met with Tiana, we walked through the house
to get a feel for it,” says Cernoch. “There were dated columns
and arches everywhere. She shared her Pinterest mood boards
to give us design ideas, which always helps.”
continued on page 51

REMODELING FIELD REPORT GREEN BUILDER 47