For their dream home, artists and educators Traci and Wynn were inspired by the spacious loft apartments that they admired while living in Manhattan – but without the NYC price tag.  Their ideal space would be airy and warm, spacious yet efficient, with simple lines free of clutter or excess ornamentation.  A Japanese ofuro tub would grace one of two bathrooms.  Three bedrooms would provide plenty of space for their growing family.  Extra room in an open living area would allow the practice of traditional folk dance.

(Visit our home remodeling page for more about our approach, including project examples, videos, and articles.)

All they had to do was find the right building – and the right architect and builder – to make their loft remodel dream real.

They started with the architect, choosing Liz Williams of Pencil Work Studio for the job.  (See Portland Architecture’s article about Liz and her work.) Traci and Wynn were drawn to Liz’s aesthetic and also appreciated her experience living in Japan.

“She really understood what I meant when I talked about what we wanted for the bathroom and ofuro,” Traci explained.

Liz’s first task was to help with the big challenge: finding a building that could accommodate Traci and Wynn’s vision.  It wasn’t easy.

“Portland has lots of really weird-shaped buildings, we discovered,” said Traci.

Trapezoidal buildings with strange, wasted empty spaces.  Bathrooms placed willy-nilly.  Buildings of questionable structural integrity.

“One building we saw seriously felt like it had been put together with duct tape,” Traci said.

But their persistence paid off when, after months of searching, Traci and Wynn found the right building-with-potential in an urban southeast Portland neighborhood: a 2-story, 8000 square foot building built 100 years ago.

Over the course of its lifespan the building had served as nickelodeon, place of worship, dance hall, and most recently, an alternative school for adolescent boys.  The ground floor contained offices and a multipurpose space.  The 4,000 SF upstairs was cut up into a warren of twelve rooms and a kitchen.  Floors were a messy accretion of linoleum layers and carpet.  Original ceilings were hidden by a makeshift dropped ceiling, installed in an attempt to warm up what felt like a medieval castle in terms of thermal comfort.

Liz designed a remodel that employed a clean, modern approach and restrained material palette to open up the second floor and celebrate both light and wood.  The ground floor could remain virtually untouched and serve as a space for music rehearsals.

Traci and Wynn selected H&H to build the project, largely thanks to our approach to sustainable construction.

“We were happy with how Hammer & Hand is involved in green construction, both energy efficiency and reuse of materials,” Traci told me.  “Trying to throw away as little as possible really appealed to me.”

To reduce waste and preserve the embodied energy of the existing structure we deconstructed the entire interior of the upstairs floor, sparing the existing kitchen.  We salvaged and reused framing timber on site, as well as existing interior windows and doors.  After stripping away layers of floor coverings we unearthed an existing maple floor, which we refinished and returned to its former glory.

After a full home energy audit of the loft we set to work shoring up the loft’s envelope to control for temperature, air quality and moisture.  Extensive air sealing combined with a continuous supply of fresh air from a heat recovery ventilator (HRV) ensure superior indoor air quality and energy efficiency.  Balanced ventilation that brings fresh air into bedrooms and exhausts stale air from the kitchen and two bathrooms and has the dual benefit of supporting indoor air quality and managing moisture.  High-density cellulose insulation blown into the floor of the loft provides a “foundation” of warmth and airtightness and provides a sound barrier from rehearsals below.  Water-blown, low-density polyurethane insulation on exterior walls and under the roof completes the thermal envelope of the home.

The result is a spacious, modern living space that feels cozy and operates efficiently – a great place to raise a family in the city.

“It doesn’t feel cold, either in temperature or atmosphere,” said Traci.  “Even though it’s big and open, it feels nice, like a home.”

And heating the space hasn’t cost a fortune.

“The largest space I had lived in before this was 800 square feet, so moving into this was daunting,” said Traci.  “But when I talk with people with normal sized homes, our bill is actually lower than theirs.  That’s great.”

“We’re very happy with our home and the work you guys did,” said Traci.

Check out the portfolio to see more photos of this loft conversion.

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Once the mess had been cleared, H&H and designer Amy Griffith from Broken Box Designs got to work on the condo bathroom remodel. (Visit our condo remodeling page for more about H&H’s approach, including project examples and articles.) The team transformed the flooded disaster area into a modern bathroom fit for its hip Pearl District location. Check out these photos of the finished product, and a map of design details below:

Photos by Jeff Amram.

1. Countertop: 3 cm Stormy Sky Quartz
2. Sink: IKEA Braviken Single Bowl, White, Single Hole
3. Faucet: IKEA Granskar Chrome
4. Vanity: Custom 56.5″ x 26″ x 22″ Light Birch Vanity by Rintoul Cabinets
5. Toilet: Kohler Persuade High Efficiency Elongated
6/7. Lighting: Purchased by client from Rejuvenation
8. Exhaust Fan: Panasonic Whispergreen
9. Floor Tile: 12 x 24 Eleganza Groove Porcelain in Bronze
10. Tub: Kohler 60″ x 32′ White Alcove Bath with Integral Apron
11. Shower Door: Tempered Glass 8′ Fixed at Right Side and Ceiling 36″ Operable Door
12. Bath Faucet: Kohler Bacroft
13. Shower Tile: Crossville Glass Tile in Nine Lives

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A couple years ago Hammer & Hand helped transform the second floor of this building into a comfortable, bright, modern loft. But for phasing reasons the kitchen was left in its “natural” state. Now it was the kitchen’s turn to shine, the final chapter of an exercise in recognizing and extracting raw potential from one of Portland’s odd, unconventional buildings.

(Learn more about the loft’s additional renovation phases here and here.) While the rest of the loft’s construction was underway, owners Traci and Wynn had been making due in the kitchen’s original, funky-commercial state. Isolated from the rest of the dwelling, partially torn up with open cabinets, and shrouded in a 30-year-old drop ceiling, this kitchen had humble beginnings.

(Visit our remodeling services page for more blog posts, videos, and information about home remodeling projects with Hammer & Hand.)

Before photos courtesy of Risa Boyer Architecture

Photography by Jeff Amram

By the light of a flickering fluorescent light bulb, Traci and Wynn dreamed about what the kitchen could be: intimate, modern, and bright. A central place for their young family to gather. They brought on architect Risa Boyer to help them translate their vision into a workable plan and invited Hammer & Hand back to provide the muscle.

Risa saw the potential hiding within. Her first order of business was opening a window in the wall dividing the kitchen from the main living space, clearing sight lines and connecting the kitchen with the rest of the dwelling.

With marching orders from Risa, Hammer & Hand set to work gutting what was left of the kitchen. H&H Project Supervisor Kevin Guinn explained, “There was a drain in the floor that came out and some old floor sinks from the commercial setting. The challenge was to convert it from a commercial kitchen to a residential one.”

A fresh start was in order. We removed the industrial drain, scraped up multiple layers of linoleum, then patched and refinished the original fir floors hiding beneath. The ancient drop ceiling tiles had to go and we framed in a new, higher ceiling and lit the room to modern standards.

Benjamin Klebba from Phloem Studio created the custom walnut cabinets. “The client was looking to do something pretty minimal, so the wood became a really strong element—the cabinet above the range, the cabinets wrapping around—so we oriented the grain in that direction,” Risa says. Risa capped the cabinets with matte stainless steel countertops to show industrial’s softer side.

The team designed built-in storage and strategically placed bookshelves to protect items—namely, the family cookbook collection—from the inquisitive hands of the owners’ toddler.

The new banquette that wraps around the corner became an instant hit with the family. “The banquette has turned out to be one of the favorite parts because it gives us an intimate space to eat our daily meals together as a family,” Traci says. Risa included a brick accent wall as a nod to the clients’ experience living in New York, a factor that also influenced much of the light industrial aesthetic.

One special request from the client was a better solution for drying reused plastic bags. Tired of their janky old clip-on device, Traci tasked the design team with finding something slick. The answer was a custom installation of stainless steel pegs lining the wall.

Traci is thrilled with the results: “The bag hooks are definitely useful and genius on Risa’s part. [H&H Carpenter] Stephanie did a great job figuring out how to install them, too.”

Another special feature is lovingly referred to as “the magic corner.” This lower cabinet works like a double-jointed Lazy Susan that unfolds shelving from a deep corner, transforming what started as a storage dead zone into a graceful, maximized use of space with no bending, crouching, or blind grappling required.

With the kitchen completing the story of the loft’s new life, Wynn and Traci are content. “We still can’t believe this is our kitchen.”

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The loft hadn’t been updated since the building was built in 2004. It had a simple industrial format with exposed concrete ceilings, concrete columns, and non-integrated elements. The new owner of the loft wanted to upgrade the appliances while updating the look of the space with gray and wood accents.

“We looked at the opportunity to enhance the functional, industrial look but warm up the space a little bit more by adding elements that look more integrated into the architecture,” said Andee.

(Visit our condo and loft remodeling page for more loft project examples, videos, and articles.)

Before photography compliments of Andee Hess, after photography by Jeff Amram.

The team replaced the floor in the condo with oak flooring from DuChateau’s Vernal Collection. Wider boards with pronounced wood grain give the illusion of a larger space. A linear LED light reinforces the integrated design and provides accent lighting in the hallway.

The team gave the bathroom, once an outdated space with a combination tub and shower, a modern makeover. After removing the tub, H&H installed a large shower with a varied Bianco Arrabescato tile from Opustone that Andee sourced in Miami.

“The shower ‘box’ looks like an inserted element that is made out of gorgeous white terrazzo tile,” said Andee. “It’s a pop of crisp white with a lot of depth in the material.”

The shower serves as a statement piece in the bathroom against a simple backdrop of neutral Plaza Nova floor and wall tile from Daltile.

An LED light within the shower provides accent lighting while reinforcing the architectural elements of the design. Running parallel to the light is a built-in trough that extends on the other side of the shower wall over the vanity. In addition to being an interesting visual element, the trough is deep enough to hold a large quantity of products while keeping them out of site.

A linear floor drain at the edge of the shower serves its function while keeping the shower floor clear.

The original kitchen had minimal counterspace and storage options, so one major focus was to update the kitchen to make it more functional for cooking and light entertaining. The team added new appliances, cabinetry, and quartz countertops. The extended cabinetry provides much more storage space than the previous design.

H&H’s James Fox wrapped the bedroom (on the left side, behind the frosted glass doors) in wood paneling to help connect it to the space and provide a little more privacy from the rest of the loft. The duct pipe, originally exposed, became built into the cabinetry with an outlet for heat.

Lighting the space proved to be tricky. “We were limited by the concrete ceiling – we couldn’t add recessed fixtures and electrical was limited,” said Andee. “We decided to run three Flos Smithfield pendant lights over the island and worked the exposed conduit so it looks like part of the fixture.”

Three slabs of Silver Fox granite run the length of the wall for visual interest and met the client’s desire for gray accents. The accent wall ties in with the concrete ceiling and neutral color palette while the veining in the material adds pops of white for contrast.

The team added a kitchen island for additional counterspace and to bring an architectural element to the middle of the area. The island is wrapped in the same material as the flooring to give the impression that it is coming up out of the floor. A powder-coated steel table rests on the island and extends to the right to be used as a breakfast counter.

“We wanted to keep the color palette really simple but to allow the somewhat complex materials to stand on their own,” said Andee. “There’s not a lot of contrast and that creates this really uniform, serene feeling.”

Andee looked for ways to tie the space together while making use of the materials on-hand.

“I went out to the fabricator’s shop and searched through the remnants to find pieces we could make use of for a coffee table,” said Andee. “We did the same thing with the shower tile – we made a nightstand out of some of the tile remnants.”

Flos String Lights (smart lights controlled from an app on the client’s phone) hang swagged from the ceiling over the couch for reading light.

For more photos of this project, visit our Minimalist Pearl Loft project page.

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Carpenter and Site Lead Carrie has been with Hammer & Hand for three and a half years now. An artist and tinkerer, Carrie has always enjoyed building things, including making clothes and handbags for over two decades.

Born in Pismo Beach, California, Carrie grew up in Ventura and San Luis Obispo, always within a walk of the beach. She also spent several years in the Sonoran desert. This relaxed childhood contributed to her bohemian lifestyle and love of the outdoors. Having spent enough time on beaches however, Carrie is now more likely to be found snowboarding down a mountain.  She is a huge fan of music, specifically vinyls, and even owned multiple record stores in Southern California for over 15 years. But eventually she started her favorite job: being a mom to two wonderful boys!

Carrie also has a Pit Bull named Butkus. This gentle giant, lovingly referred to as “Chuck,” has done a lot to change the perception of Pit Bulls in their neighborhood. Despite some wariness on the part of neighbors, Carrie had grown up with Pit Bulls and knew they didn’t deserve the negative stereotypes people often associate with them. She’s happy to say now that the vibes have changed and Chuck (aka. her “big, fat slab of ham”) has won over the neighborhood!

After ten years as a homemaker, Carrie decided to go through a pre-apprenticeship program at Oregon Tradeswomen (one of Hammer & Hand’s favorite community partners). Though she has worked for several other contractors since then, she knew she wanted to work with Hammer & Hand from day one. She credits this to our reputation for quality work and a friendly workplace culture. To all aspiring builders, Carrie’s advice is: “Bring your courage and work ethic!” Carrie definitely brought both, allowing her to not only grow and succeed at Hammer & Hand, but to become a well-respected member of the team and someone beloved by her coworkers.

Listening recommendations: S-Town podcast

Viewing recommendations: Yellowstone

Fun fact: Carrie just celebrated her 50th birthday and feels happier, healthier, and more accomplished than ever!

Carrie recently finished work on a really stunning condo remodel in South  Portland and is now working on another condo and a house in Southwest. She particularly enjoys working on old houses.

You can follow Carrie and her adventures on Instagram @cactusblossom

Hammer & Hand is currently hiring for a variety of positions in both Portland and Seattle. We are always looking for the best talent to join our team. Check out our Careers page for more information.

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