Located in Los Altos Hills, I had the joy of working on a ranch style home renovation with a wonderful family to reinvigorate the home they’ve loved for 20 years. This couple has a lively home despite being “empty nesters.” Their children visit often, mom comes for extended stays, and they love to entertain in their spacious kitchen. And with their love of honest, natural materials, we have dubbed this California ranch remodel our Au Naturel Ranch!

Well, That Escalated Quickly | The Expanding Renovation

When we first connected with our clients, they planned on renovating their kitchen, laundry room, and adding a powder room. But as we began to dream—and dream big—the scope quickly grew. 

Our renovation of the Au Naturel Ranch now included: 

• Expanding the kitchen and bumping out an exterior wall 
• New flooring throughout the home 
• Painting the exterior 
• Refreshing the living space
  • This included reworking the layout of the living spaces, including moving walls, optimizing their square footage, and adding an angled tray ceiling with skylights and beams.
• Renovating the hall bath 
• Renovating the guest bath, making it “en suite”
• Adding a powder room
• Adding a dormer and skylight to their entry space 
• Refreshing their primary bedroom including vaulting the ceiling 
• Furniture for the primary bedroom, office, living room, and some lovely window treatments

Warm, Contemporary & Thoughtful All Over

As we began to explore our clients’ interior design style for the Los Altos home, they were drawn to a warm color palette, a contemporary aesthetic, and were thoughtful during the design selection process. They had a deep appreciation of natural, honest materials. It was our goal that each element should need only minimal modifications. 

We also took the exposed wood beams in the living room and carried them throughout the home. We matched the same wood species to ensure consistency. Repetition is a wonderful design technique that ensures each space feels like it belongs to the same house. Also, repetition creates a sense of comfort; we are creatures of habit after all. 

We also layered in some showstopping design elements, like a gorgeous green marble in the hall bath and the most perfect jewel box of a powder room, complete with fabulous glass mosaic tile and a floating vanity (here’s a sneak peek!).

Intentional Design Choices

As I worked with my clients on their ranch style home renovation, I designed the kitchen methodically to create a layout with the same precision as a surgical strike. The first priority was to redesign the layout so she could cook without cutting off her guests. Next, we thought through the placement of every dish, spice, and tool, ensuring everything had the right spot to ensure functionality. We also ensured that grandma had everything she needed within easy reach. 

Throughout the home, we incorporated the same intentionality. The powder room was encased in quiet rock instead of drywall for sound privacy (also why is this not standard?!). We created a wonderful spot in the breakfast nook for the couple to display collections from their travels, between two tall pantries.. 

And, one of my favorite elements, we worked with a craftsman to create something special for the puja altar. The altar needed to remain next to the wet bar in order to face east, but we also recognized that, in design, the location was not ideal. We fabricated an open brass mesh cover to protect the puja when not in use.