Carrie grew up with a big family and big woods behind her home. It was a comforting retreat. So, when Carrie and her husband Chris bought their suburban Columbus home last year, with their combined six children, she longed for that same sense of inviting comfort.
“I wanted it to be a welcoming and cozy place where people come to stay and they never want to leave,” says Carrie.
With a little vision, Carrie and Chris took on an enormous remodeling endeavor with two goals: to create the room they need for a family of eight, and to enable the woods around their home to become a permanent part of their environment, both inside and out.
Reaching these goals required a coordinated effort by several teams of experts: the award-winning team of design/build remodeler J.S. Brown & Co. along with residential design firm Jim Wright, designers Monte Baus and Associates and Benchmark Landscape.
The master bedroom is generously spacious with sliding French doors leading to a private porch.
“It sits right on the ravine and it’s very peaceful,” says Carrie.
In the owner’s retreat, a two-story wall of windows facing the woods was carefully designed both outside and inside to make the tranquil scenery the main feature of the owners’ living quarters.
“I have very little art in the house. The outdoors is my artwork. I love that open feeling and I love the feeling of the outside, inside,” says Carrie.
With the remodelers gone and the stress of decisions over, Chris, Carrie and their family now enjoy an even better home than they envisioned because it is truly an extension of their lives.
“We call it a staycation,” says Carrie. “When you walk in the house you feel like it’s such a retreat. You don’t feel like you’re in the suburbs and you don’t feel like you have neighbors a few feet away. I love it!”