Super 6

Poolside Tropics
When K. C. Chermak of Pillar Homes in Plymouth was remodeling his own basement to complement a family-friendly outdoor pool area, he took the plunge with a Bahamas theme. “The pool changed the dynamics of how we wanted to use the lower level,” he says. “When we remodeled, we changed it into a poolside cabana and extended the use of the space.” The basement is awash in bright, tropical colors and contemporary details. Chermak was careful to ensure the designs remained bright yet soothing, with a spa-like, aquatic feel. He succeeded by staying away from teals and corals, instead opting for aqua blue, green, and muted mango. Wood elements, such as the maple cabinets around the wet bar, were double-painted in blue and green, then distressed to look as though they’d weathered several equatorial storms. The bathroom—relocated to an area that’s more accessible to the pool—also features distressed cabinetry in white, as well as distressed beadboard and bamboo flooring and benches. After passing from the pool through a workout area, family members enter a changing area that includes a vanity surrounded by one-inch tiles made of a metallic-looking Italian glass. Three pendant lights drop from the ceiling, shielded with opalescent glass.

Another door leads into the family entertaining area, where a custom-built wet bar is tucked under the stairwell. Chermak used bamboo flooring as the bar’s countertop, which arcs out in a long curve, and chose stools made with bamboo designs. In the home theater space, decorated with overstuffed chairs, a fireplace is set with seashells placed in sandy-looking grout. Despite all the fun features, Chermak is especially pleased with a band of rope lighting hidden in a cove encircling the entire room. “It’s my favorite part of the whole basement,” he says. “It set such an atmosphere with the lighting.”

A Sun-Filled Kitchen
Lightening a space can be accomplished in multiple ways—through special lighting, brighter colors, adding windows, or even knocking down a few walls. A recent kitchen remodel in a Deephaven home attained better illumination through all of these methods, as well as by adding an eight-by-twenty-five-foot addition on back of the home.

The house, which was built in 1978, previously sported eight-foot ceilings that felt lower because of the space’s dark woodwork. JoLynn Johnson, owner and president of Crystal Kitchen Center, focused on lightening everything up by taking out two supporting walls and combining the kitchen, dining room, and family room into one greatroom to fill the new addition. “We had to deal with a support post that came smack through the middle of the island,” says Johnson, describing the twenty-foot center island, which tapered at one end. She disguised it with cabinet material, and added ceiling beams to further camouflage the structural necessity. The ceiling beams not only added a nice touch to the kitchen, but continued through the entire greatroom to bring it all together.

Cabinetry contributes to the lightening effect as well, with alder wood used in the island and off-white paint with brown highlights coating the remaining cupboards and drawers. A massive hood spreads five feet across the top of the stove, and a nine-foot-long window arches above the sink to bring in natural light. The unusual shapes to each feature, as well as the island, helped break up the length of the room. For a little extra light, Johnson put a small eyebrow window into the ceiling between the beams. “It’s a little Cape Coddish–looking from the exterior,” she says. “This one will always stand out in my mind because it was such a fun project to work on. I got such a sense of accomplishment from it, and the homeowners love it.”